The Rise and Fall of Football in the Big East

[@JKJ002]

What were some of your favorite moments of Football in the Big East? What were other reasons why the Big East Football experiment collapsed? Also, correction: 2009 Cincinnati was the first AQ team to not make the BCS National Championship since Auburn in 2004. Not the first team to ever miss it.

[@Collegefootballproductions]

I don’t know since I wasn’t really old enough to watch it. But from what I’ve seen the 2007 season in the big east seemed cool

[@nordiczebo5336]

I would say the Fiesta and Sugar bowl wins WVU won. They proved the Big East could compete especially in bowl season. Also the Thursday night games with Louisville and Virginia Tech would get wild. We just needed a big money program like Penn State or Notre Dame to join.

[@RobbieStacks90]

Not too many because the Big East was an incredibly weak conference. It was basically Miami and Virginia Tech followed by a couple of average teams and a bunch of bottom feeders until the ACC realignment. The '99 season was exciting as a kid because of the weekly drama of Virginia Tech trying to make it to the Sugar Bowl with 1-loss Nebraska on their heels. As someone who tried to support Rutgers as a kid, even in their awful seasons, my favorite Big East memory would be the game against Louisville when Rutgers won on a field goal to prevent the Cardinals from getting to the national championship game.

[@fliplife67]

It’s crazy!!!! College football is the money maker but the Big East Conference will always be known for basketball.

[@therealnathnath154]

Could’ve easily had a football conference with Notre Dame, Miami, PennSt, WVU, Pitt, VaTech, Syracuse, and BC had the dominoes fell right

[@stonethrower24]

No way Notre Dame would ever play in the Big East 😂

[@NA.NA..]

​@@stonethrower24if they were ever to join a conference they'd have joined the big east

[@RobertDetert]

They did except for Notre Dame.

[@whitechocalte532]

No we wouldn’t have, there was never even a .00001% notre dame played football in the big east ever

[@kdeb92968]

@@NA.NA..why not the big10

[@marketsmoto3180]

Pat White is the only College QB to win 5 bowl games including 2 BCS bowls

[@yikes6969]

It was 4 bowl games unless for some reason your adding the senior bowl in there

[@Alan-lv9rw]

In the brief era of Big East football, UConn won two football championships and competed very well. The Huskies only need a level playing field to succeed.

[@christopherfoote4643]

They are in the Big East. They are a part of the Big East Conference. They are one of four teams in the conference.

[@IBangedUrMom69420]

@@christopherfoote4643Yeah they’re in the crappy version of the Big East. There’s a reason UConn wants to go to the ACC.

[@MRBell-kg4kr]

All of those teams who jumped ship have not been successful.

[@zacharyrome3432]

WVU has had some decent teams and is on the rise again .

[@karlgwambe8860]

Penn State?

[@jayy8409]

as miami fan it’s so true no success from us really since moving to acc only minor bowl compared to what we use to accomplish

[@cooperf7303]

pitt has an acc championship

[@dylanvaccaro6919]

Syracuse

[@CodArctic]

Not getting Penn State was a big mistake

[@WVUer21]

I was at WVU from 2001--05. I thought a lot happened then, and it was just the appetizer.

[@Becauseimme]

Last night the PAC12 officially died. RIP

[@randylochtefeld2806]

Brian Kelly taking off for ND before the Sugar Bowl crushed a terrific exciting Cincinnati team.

[@carsonc29]

I personally think coaches should be REQUIRED to coach their team the whole season even if they accepted another job...I think its cowardly for a coach to do that to players he made promises to...I understand it might not be the call of the coaches, but the new schools might want them to start immediately..if thats true, then the NCAA should demand schools let new hires finish out seasons with their previous team before starting

[@TheSBleeder]

Well, then he left us before the Fiesta Bowl.

[@IBangedUrMom69420]

Yeah he’s also a murderer too, shouldn’t surprise anyone

[@robertharper5693]

Living in West Virginia I miss these football matchups. I loved watching Big East football as a kid. Awesome video

[@bendalessio4431]

Always said I might be the only person who misses Big East football. Maybe I'm wrong??

[@Beroean30]

People loved the Big East, basketball and football alike.

[@christopherfoote4643]

Connecticut is a Big East Conference representative to the FBS. They are in the Big East. They are still in the conference. They are a part of it.

[@kenyatta3840]

The Big East would always have a crazy upset bowl win every couple of years, especially in the last few years (West Virginia beating down Clemson, UL and Teddy Bridgewater crushing Florida). I like to count UCF over Baylor as well even though that was the beginning of the American Conference but they still had the BCS bowl tie-in that year.

[@WVUer21]

As a fellow proud Big East veteran, you are not alone, sir.

[@chrishalliday5711]

Definitely miss the big east

[@badams4982]

"You don't want to be the one standing when the music stops" That hits hard for Oregon State and Washington State

[@denisdooley1540]

I mean, they're mediocre as Power 5 schools in so many ways (except OSU in baseball), yet they're hardly at the bottom. They just were in the wrong conference at the wrong time. And probably had the big 12 not expanded after the Texas/OU announcement there might have been room for them to come along with the 4 corners schools. Crap luck.

[@mralbrecht8736]

As a die hard Louisville fan I miss the big east so much man

[@RobbieStacks90]

Louisville was never a real Big East team. It was a Conference USA add-on to make up for the losses of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College to the ACC. When we talk Big East, we're talking about the original members from '91 to '03.

[@TruckerCardsfan]

​@@RobbieStacks90and yet, Louisville was one of the best. And carried the big east throughout their time in the conference.

[@incarnateflame3462]

​@@RobbieStacks90what a dipshitted statement that was lmao Just another gatekeeper. Louisville is one of the best teams that ever played football in that conference.

[@CyberchaoX]

2009 Cincinnati was not the first undefeated AQ to be shut out; that was 2004 Auburn. Also they probably wouldn't have made the title game with a Texas loss because they only just barely jumped TCU for #3 with a majority of the computers putting Cincinnati > Texas > TCU; a Texas loss reduces the Bearcats' computer lead to the point where TCU's human poll lead overcomes it.

[@JKJ002]

Correct that is my mistake on the Auburn fact. The whole line was supposed to be “The first team SINCE Auburn” but I didn’t include that & didn’t realize until now. Thank you for the correction

[@christopherfoote4643]

That's speculative and quite possibly unsubstantiated because the human element was pervasive and it seems unlikely to me that an undefeated Cincinnati wouldn't have been elevated to the title game. Certainly Texas Christian was also represented but Boise State defeated them.

[@christopherfoote4643]

​@@JKJ002You're not necessarily wrong. I remember that season would have made an interesting playoff but Cincinnati lost to Florida and Texas Christian lost to Boise State. Alabama won the national championship. Boise State was left standing. F.W.I.W.

[@NobleNoob356]

Glad they didn’t because they would have been killed like every other time they played on a big stage.

[@ZeusAmun-pt9dc]

I'm old enough to have watched Mike Vick play in college and I have never seen anything like that but RG3 was pretty close. He was awesome.

[@arthurpasseri4590]

RG3 told reporters that Rentschler Field (UConn's Stadium) is a tough place to play. We beat Baylor twice with RG3 Quarterbacking.

[@ZeusAmun-pt9dc]

@@arthurpasseri4590 that's cool. That was when y'all had that one coach who should've stayed but took "a better job" right? Randy Etsile I think? I believe that when a coach has that type of success at a school they should stay and maybe get a statue one day, but that's just my belief.

[@jeffpitts2473]

Vince Young.

[@CopycatNinja875]

The Big East would not been dissolved if Penn St. had joined the conference. It would have led to the Big East having a more TV exposure and improved the perception of the conference. Miami and Penn St. would be the two main blue blood programs who would compete with each other on a yearly basis for the top spot in the conference and a national title shot. WVU, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Virginia Tech would consistently do well every year and compete for a conference title once every few years to create some parity. It also doesn't help that college football in the northeast isn't that big of a draw compared to other regions in the country.

[@christopherfoote4643]

Big East is still around. Connecticut is still in the Big East as are three other teams.

[@grahamsebren2295]

Hope you continue uploading, I’ve loved your videos, the growth will come!

[@SerialChiller1000]

My alma mater, the University of Montana, got beat by Villanova in the 2008 FCS National Championship.

[@jozy6742]

amazing video man thank you, love this channel

[@vpgbreezy3794]

All they had to do was get Penn st

[@guyhill6269]

So true. Also could have added Temple and maybe Rhode Island from the beginning. Could have started out with 12 solid schools. 😢

[@Andrew-bd8dc]

Crazy how now in the new world of realignment most if not all of the old Big East teams will be left out of the Power 2.

[@colin5]

As a Cincinnati fan, the death of big east football was so devastating. Especially 2009 when we were 3 seconds away from going to a national title.

[@randylochtefeld2806]

As a Cincinnati fan, I agree with you. Following the Big East dissolution, 10 long years in AAC purgatory.

[@brittjohnson7171]

You wasn't beating that 09 Bama team it would have been a bad beatdown

[@cuseyeti_one8three]

Born and raised in Syracuse. My dad was a student at SU when I was a kid. I went to DePaul. The demise of the Big East is soul crushing. I’ve never liked anything about the ACC.

[@N0thing2C_here]

​​@@randylochtefeld2806i just love remembering everyone saying shouldve stayed in c-usa and then winning 4 conference titles in a row practically 😏

[@randylochtefeld2806]

I have no memory of mass UC fan (you said everyone) regret at moving from the CUSA to Big East. Huggins and Bob Goin went where the money was. I know Dantonio would not have taken the football job if UC had stayed in the CUSA. @@N0thing2C_here

[@brandonconforto315]

If Penn State had joined they probably have won or a minimum play for a couple of NCG games in the 90s. The 94 teams would have played Nebraska as opposed to playing Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Honestly, even though the Big East did have some strong years from 98-2003 overall the conference lacked depth and would have been easier to go undefeated than in the Big Ten

[@otaviofrnazario]

man, Penn State and Nebraska in 94 would be to decide the national champion on the field. Back them it wasn't often for that to happen

[@TheMimic12]

TV Money is why the Big East began sponsoring football, and TV money is what drove the other power conferences to raid the Big East. And at the end of the BCS era where the Big East's AQ status was being challenged, the football members knew they had to get out. And TV Money is what truly pitted the football and non-football members against each other. The football members knew that they drove the networks to offer better TV contracts, and they wanted bigger shares. To the non-football schools, they really didn't care for being lumped into a basketball league with the replacements for Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville, WVU, and ND. The likes of Georgetown and Villanova didn't want to play in a basketball conference with East Carolina and Tulsa, so they decided their best future was not being in a league with football at all.

[@christopherfoote4643]

Big East is still around. It's limited to one FBS member. Connecticut but it also includes three FCS members.

[@pikeusf23]

Used to love watching USF beat up WVU and eventually getting up to #2 in the BCS in 2007.

[@billblaski9523]

That whole 2007 season was nuts, how many teams rose to #2 then lost the following week

[@pikeusf23]

@@billblaski9523 I saw a video on how it was the curse of #2.

[@billblaski9523]

@@pikeusf23 kto?

[@pikeusf23]

@@billblaski9523 whats kto?

[@IBangedUrMom69420]

@@pikeusf23The name of the channel who made the video

[@christopherwebb3517]

In the post Oklahoma vs. NCAA world, there was no way the Big East could have held onto their FBS football members without adding football to their conference. Syracuse, Pitt, and BC would have been gone by the mid 90s. Adding football allowed them to hold onto those schools for 10 to 20 years longer than they otherwise would have.

[@alecwulfhorst1097]

So close to 10k

[@IamPeteQuill]

Can you do one specifically about Marquette?

[@scmcguire53]

It just hit me. Any chance you could do a video on how Pitt and WVU football in 2007 basically killed a conference with the result of 1 game. You could spin that to blame Pitt for winning, WVU for leaving for Big12, Pat McAffee for missing the field goal, etc. I think you could make an interesting video on this one.

[@sdeepj]

The Big East was supposed to be modeled after Hockey East, which is a college hockey conference composed of New England schools. It’s only their hockey teams that compete, like Boston College is in the Hockey East, but basketball competes in the Big East. The Big East should have been the “Basketball East”, where only their basketball teams compete and the other sports compete in other conferences

[@zacharyrome3432]

Big East football was extremely underrated was clear cut stronger than the acc but the acc had smarter leadership .

[@alancavy]

As a UConn student and fan, this hurts to watch a bit lol

[@SizzurpFoo]

Just think if Seton Hall would have created a football program for this conference

[@donnie2832]

Why didn’t they try to add Florida St. and South Carolina when they were added Miami and the other schools?

[@samuraisaxon6800]

They need to kick butler and UConn out of the current big East for basketball and add in BC and Notre Dame for the ultimate all Catholic conference

[@gojira5425]

And what have those teams done since leaving? Nothing! Greed got the best of them.

[@arthurpasseri4590]

UConn, if Randy Edsall didn't leave after the Fiesta Bowl (Or told the UConn administration before the game he would be leaving) could have a different history. The Fiesta Bowl was run poorly by Edsall, it seems he didnt want to be there. Another poor decision, from Connecticut's point, was the lawsuit by (then) AG Richard Blumenthal (the idiot Senator). Now, the ACC (with ex Big East members Syracuse, Boston College and Louisville) are inviting other Colleges to join, since UConn is blacklisted. Third issue was when Randy Edsall left, UConn AD didn't want to hire an up and comer, but a coach who knew the northeast football scene, Paul Pastrloni, who left UConn football in shambles. Now UConn football is looking up, and hope we can either join the Big Ten, the Big 12 or the new look ACC when FSU and UMiami leaves.

[@mfahy0718]

UConn has zero chance to ever get into the B1G. Rutgers, Maryland, and Penn State will vote no to them and convince the football first schools like Ohio State and Michigan to vote them down.

[@VLA1234-t2t]

The big east got a little greedy forsure. Espn offered them around 14m per school in a 10 year deal and that was a bigeast without miami/vtech/bc The 14m per school wouldve put them on par with what the other power conferences made at the time. In 2011, Sec was making like 14m, big12 9-10m etc Ofc they all got new contracts to push them into the 19-20m range like 2 years later so the bigeast wouldve been a bit behind (with the fox basketball contract the bigeast wouldve been at 16-17m per school. So only about 4-5m behind the other power conferences. It would’ve undeniably still been a power conference money wise. The aac ended up getting 8m/per year.

[@Austin_Niepołomice]

Big East is far better off without football. It's a sport that only ever destroys conferences and ruins regional rivalries for everyone. Basketball only has kept a close knit regional footprint with intense games every week.

[@stonethrower24]

Northeast schools are pretty much always garbage at football anyways so it’s a good deal for everyone.

[@arthurpasseri4590]

The Big East is a great conference for the private Schools, but UConn is a misfit in it. Independent Football is dying and FCS (Division 1AA) is not fiscally viable. That's why Delaware is going FBS along with South Dakota State is looking to upgrade to FBS.

[@CodArctic]

Penn State would destroy if this conference was still around 😂

[@mattmang07]

I think this is mostly fair, though I do think it stops short of the full story when talking about the aftermath of declining the tv deal. Once the Big East declined the deal with ESPN, ESPN helped orchestrate the league’s demise by acting as a pseudo advisor to the ACC and encouraging the ACC to invite Big East teams in 2011.

[@tommykeeran6776]

Cincy wasn't first to miss undefeated. Auburn 2004 was

[@RobertDetert]

The Big East Conference wasn't a bad football conference..I actually prefer the old Big East Conference over the new mostly private universities Big East Conference.

[@Bigvulcha]

Kinda ironic with everything going on in the Acc

[@Collegefootballproductions]

4:39 that was foreshadowing for 2007

[@G_54-GMG]

I wish conferences made sense again?

[@ajmizenko983]

We will rise like a Phoenix out of the ashes

[@stonethrower24]

When?? 😂😂

[@RobertDetert]

Note Dame just might as well join the ACCfor football..But they wont. They just signed a new extension with NBC.

[@otaviofrnazario]

unless we got a playoff system that actually says "join a conference or no shot at a national championship" and stand the ground, Notre Dame will never drop NBC or their independence. We know that they will not be dropped by tv, and they earn more independently than in a conference

[@Stephen-to7jx]

Penn State was never in Big East Football

[@jonpike9991]

Penn State was a better fit for the B1G, especially in wrestling. Iowa vs. Penn State. BigEast should have gone after Nova to make the jump to FBS and UCF. Nova UCF USF WVU Rutgers BC Memphis UConn Temple VT Pitt Cuse

[@maninredhelm]

The Big East ruined football in the Northeast, not the other way around. They got the comeuppance they deserved later, but far too late to save football. It's ridiculous that the most densely populated region in the country doesn't have a major college sports conference. People are going to say that's because the teams aren't good, but how much of that is because there's no football culture here because there's never been a conference? The Atlantic 10 could have been that conference, but the Big East looted it, then the Big East Catholics manipulated everything in favor of basketball.

[@ncaa4life611]

The ACC killed the conference. I don’t feel sorry for the ACC’s eventual collapse

[@connecticut511]

this is why the world and life sucks now

[@incarnateflame3462]

This shit cursed Miami, VaTech, BC i dont think has had a significant win in years and years, Syracuse hasnt done shxt and now the ACC is probably the worst power 5 conference there is. With Florida State being in the gutter and Clemson being openly unhappy i think the ACCs days are numbered

[@Colinbolin0]

It ruined UConn football

[@Alan-lv9rw]

UConn thrived in Big East football. But if you’re saying the break up ruined UConn football, you may be right.

[@dantesinfernopurgatory7826]

No. UConn ruined UConn football. But admitting that requires accountability - which is virtually frowned upon these days.

[@Colinbolin0]

@@dantesinfernopurgatory7826 alright while that is true if they stayed in the big East they could have felt the pressure to improve the team

[@arthurpasseri4590]

​@@Colinbolin0 The Big East broke up...UConn went with the FBS schools to the American Athletic Conference, while the Big East was mostly a Basketball Conference. Villanova is a FCS school, Georgetown is a non scholarship football school, Seton Hall, Providence and St John's don't play football. UConn's Athletic Department was mismanaged for about 15 years, now the AD is properly managed. Uphill climb for the football team, but hockey, baseball, basketball and soccer teams are strong.

[@Colinbolin0]

@@arthurpasseri4590 yeah true can’t disagree with that but they would’ve been better off in Big East football

[@stonethrower24]

Not much to miss about the Big East. Irrelevant conference besides Miami. There’s a reason they (besides Miami) always got killed in big non-conference and bowl games.

[@patrickdougherty684]

WVU was 3 and 0 in BCS games brah

[@guyhill6269]

Absolutely untrue.

[@zacharyrome3432]

Are you stupid ??

[@Jaison96]

Umm….basketball was better….

[@easyyeye]

2:53 eh penn state would’ve been great early on but in the last 20 years. They haven’t done much in football. And basketball is still an afterthought

[@IBangedUrMom69420]

PSU simply hasn’t done a lot because of where they are. If the Big East still existed as a football conference they would’ve been owning it. They’re a 10-2 every year team cause they gotta play OSU and Michigan, who are two of the best teams every single year.